Drought declared national disaster in South Africa

With the aim to deal with drought-stricken areas like Cape Town, South African government has declared drought a national disaster to enable authorities to have access to special funds.

For months, Cape Town issued threat of ‘Day Zero’ when the city will have to close water taps because of drought.

Minister of the Co-operative Governance, Zweli Mkhize made this announcement. He further said that they announced the decision at 10:00 local time (12:00GMT) after Inter-Ministerial Task Team (IMTT) completed its work on Drought and Water Scarcity.

In order to provide relief to affected communities, government has also set aside an amount of 6 bn rand ($4.7bn; £3.4bn) in the 2018/19 budget speech.

Minister Mkhize also stressed that they will follow a strict process while dealing with the relief funds.

“We call on everyone in the country to use water sparingly as we are a water scarce country.”

For months, Cape Town issued threat of ‘Day Zero’ when city will have to close water taps because of drought. But, the opposition party said water conservation efforts will shortened the duration of Day Zero.

The national disaster announcement will continued for a period of three months. Cape Town is a popular tourist destination.